IOWA CITY - Sixty-seven.

No, that was not the temperature Friday night when the Iowa City West football team faced Cedar Rapids Prairie. It was much more brisk than that.

The number 67 refers to Prairie's total yards from scrimmage.

In a football game where the Iowa City West defense held Prairie to its fewest yards of the season, the Trojans steamrolled the Hawks 50-8 on a chilly September night at the Iowa City West field.

The opening snap that Prairie took on offense was a fumbled quarterback/center exchange, and it looked like something was amiss for the Hawks all night.

“We just came out really flat today,” said Prairie receiver Jason Vizzini. “They took full advantage.”

West’s defense blanketed Prairie receivers but didn’t really need to, as quarterback Jace Hanna was sacked seven times and was constantly under pressure. The Trojan defense allowed only two Prairie first downs in the first half.

“It is absolutely a credit to their defense,” said Prairie Coach Mike Morrissey. “We just couldn’t get into a rhythm.

"They did some different things and brought some different pressures and mixed up coverages and our guys looked confused at times. That is a credit to their aggressive style and how they came at us tonight.”

On the opening kickoff, Iowa City West (3-1) already looked to be in control. Trojan star quarterback Charles Rogers took the kick and dashed for a 51-yard return to begin the game. The Trojans started their next four drives on the Prairie side of the field.

Although they didn’t score on the opening series, the Trojans punched it in with eight minutes left in the first quarter when Rogers scampered from 16 yards out and ran for the two-point conversion to put West up 8-0.

They didn’t look back from there. Rogers added another score near the end of the first quarter when he hooked up with speedster Mondo Williams for a 31-yard pitch and catch, making it 15-0.

Rogers ran for an 8-yard touchdown with two minutes left in the half to make the score 22-0 and then tossed another touchdown to Williams in the third quarter for good measure.

Rogers passed for 176 yards and two touchdowns and added 88 rushing yards with two scores. He was taken out with 3:35 left in the third quarter.

The final quarter was all continuous clock, with West up by more than 35 points.

When Rogers and the West offense weren’t on the field, the defense did more than enough to quell Prairie's normally potent passing attack.

“Obviously we can't run anything downfield if he (Hanna) doesn’t have time to throw,” said Morrissey. “It’s a matter of a guy getting beat, really.

"They are athletic and exposed us a couple of times up front. But they are a good football team, we knew that watching film this week and even coming off of a loss last week we knew they were going to be tough.”

Prairie's 67 total yards came a week after Hanna put up 361 passing yards against the state’s top-ranked team in Cedar Falls.

Prairie (0-4) has had a grueling opening schedule with three opponents in the top 10.

“I thought up to this point in the season we were doing very well even though it didn’t show necessarily in the win column,” said Morrissey. “Our kids were battling and giving everything they had.”

The challenges keep coming as the Hawks host No.6 Linn-Mar next Friday.

“We need to be more focused in practice and turn it up,” said Vizzini. “We just have to play better every week.”

IOWA CITY WEST 50, PRAIRIE 8

Prairie                     0    0   0    8 - 8
Iowa City West       15   7  22   6 - 50

ICW- Charles Rogers 16 run (2-point conversion run by Rogers)
ICW- Mondo Williams 31 pass from Rogers (Alex Troester kick)
ICW- Rogers 8 run (Troester kick)
ICW- Williams 66 pass from Rogers (2-point conversion run by Rogers)
ICW- Anthony Brown 8 run (Troester kick)
ICW- Colin Baker 1 run (Troester kick)
CRP- Alex Nelson 12 pass from Peyton Wagner (2-point conversion good)
ICW- Xavier May 5 run (kick failed)


Team Stats

First Downs - CRP 8, ICW 11
Rushes/Yards - CRP 27-12, ICW 28-157
Receiving Yards - CRP 55, ICW 176
Comp-Att-Int - CRP 8-19-0, ICW 10-17-0
Punts-Avg - CRP 8-34.7, ICW 3-32.3
Penalties-Yards - CRP 7-40, ICW 10-103

Individual Stats

Rushing
CRP: Wagner 7-27, Nelson 2-8, Carlson 2-5, Zach Witte 10-3, Hanna 6-minus 30. ICW: Rogers 14-88, Dowell 10-46, Reiners 1-9, Brown 1-8, Bryant 2-4.

Passing
CRP: Wagner 2-2-0-42, Hanna 6-17-0-13. ICW: Rogers 10-17-0-176.

Receiving
CRP: Rathje 1-30, Nelson 1-12, Carlson 2-12, A. Dellamuth 2-5, Whitters 1-4. ICW: Williams 5-143, Alexander 3-24, Morgan 2-11.